'Bob Hearts Abishola' Shifts Most Of The Cast To Recurring Status Ahead of Season 5

justjared.com:

The next season of Bob Hearts Abishola is going to look a lot different. According to Deadline, many of the cast have been demoted to recurring status, save for Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku, who play the sitcom’s title characters. Head inside to find out more about why the decision was made… The series has 11 series regulars in addition to Billy and Folake, and the outlet reports that all of them will be a recurring status in the next season of the show, which will air this fall on CBS. “The rest [of the cast] were offered to continue as recurring with a five-episode guarantee,” Deadline writes, explaining that the reduction in the series regular cast is all due to the budget of the sitcom. “Downgrading the entire cast besides the two leads to recurring is the most dramatic talent cost-reduction move yet and a possible indication of what’s to come as linear ratings continue to slide and the networks’ push to cut license fees continues to grow,” the outlet adds.

As most of the cast is downgraded to recurring, CBS has also waived exclusivity, which means that those stars can take over jobs and are not bound by Bob Hearts Abishola contracts.

They were asked to notify producers of their availability though, so the writers can write the scripts accordingly. Gina Yashere (Kemi, co-creator, co-showrunner, and producer), Barry Shabaka Henley (Uncle Tunde), Shola Adewusi (Auntie Olu), Christine Ebersole (Dottie), Maribeth Monroe (Christina), Saidah Afrika Ekulona (Edunoluwa), Travis Wolfe, Jr. (Dele), Matt Jones (Douglas), Tony Okengbowa (Kofo), Bayo Akinfemi (Goodwin), and Vernee Watson (Gloria) are the cast who were reduced to recurring.